Tempus Edax Rerum
by Bandoth
Summary: Time flies, and Time crawls, but above all else, Time is the Devourer of All Things.
1. Prologue

"There is something you need to know about true prophecies. I do not mean the junk muggle fortune tellers and fakes will throw at you. I am talking about the read deal. Prophecies are first and foremost self fulfilling. They are told so that the events spoken of will take place. If one participant in a prophecy hears of it and decides to disobey Fate, his avoidance of said prophecy will inevitably lead to its fulfillment. If one hears it and does everything in his power to fulfill it, well… You can figure that one out on your own. Perhaps it is just for this very reason that the events in a prophecy are written in stone. Fate reveals its plan so that it will be followed exactly to the letter. Resistance is futile.

"Besides, prophecies are said in ambiguous wordings. Even with all the scrutiny of the world, we cannot possibly predict an event second for second just from a prophecy. We are often lucky just to get half of the message correct before its fulfillment. Maybe our floundering around to figure out exactly what a prophecy means leads to its fulfillment. Maybe if we just left the future alone, Fate would allow us to break the rules. And if we _did _happen to go against a prophecy, would we even realize that we did? I wouldn't know. I've never found an unfulfilled prophecy."

I wrote those words once. I still believe them too. But there's so much I left unsaid in that passage. There's so much that is still a mystery, even to me. If some events are written in stone, does that mean that the time leading up to those events is just as rigid? Or are the terms and conditions flexible? Hmph. I hate Fate.

And I absolutely _despise _Time.

If I were to kill someone, and then go back in time and saved that person, I would cease to exist, as there would be no one to go back in time in the first place. If Fate knows everything is written in stone, why would she give us the power to travel time? Why mock us so? Time moves in the most inconvenient ways. It moves too quickly when we don't want it to do so. It moves slower than a sloth when we want something to end quickly. In short, Time flies, whether we want it to or not, and we can do nothing about it. And Time is the devourer of _all_ things.

I can't accept that.

I think there's a fundamental problem with how we look at time. We can move around in it in _two_ directions. I can't believe no one saw this problem before. For every place we describe, we need _three_ dimensions. It's so simple to see now. And yet it makes it so much more complex. We used to think time was like a stream, flowing in one direction, and we made Time Turners to swim upstream. Ha, Time a stream.

Time is a freaking ocean.

I think I'm right about this. No, I _know_ I'm right. I saw it in his face. He was surprised so many times… Things didn't turn out the way he thought they would. Time _has_ to be malleable. He did it before, didn't he? So why can't I?

Hmph. You must think I'm crazy. Don't worry, I probably am. Just remember that in these last few moments, I tried. I've never wanted anything I did to be remembered before. I've tried all my life, for things I didn't want to do and for things I felt I _had_ to do, but for once I feel like this is my own decision. I don't care if I screw everything up this time. It's not like I have anything else to lose anyways. By the looks of things, if I don't succeed, you won't either. Fate writes in stone and Time is the devourer of all things.

But right now, I think that's absolute bullshit, and I'm going to prove it.


	2. Chapter 1

**AN: Well, to whoever decides to read this, welcome to my story. Updates on this story will be somewhat slow, as I don't seem to possess natural vitality and am currently in my senior year in high school. Hopefully this won't keep you from checking in every once in a while to see if I've updated. If all goes well, chapters will grow in length too. This, however, could delay updates even more. Let's just see how it goes then, shall we? Enjoy.**

**Tempus Edax Rerum**

"_There are many forces at work in our universe, but few are as worthy of note as Fate is. Remember this: Fate exists. Some things are simply going to happen. There is nothing you can do about it. Take death for example. Everyone and everything that lives will one day die. It is unavoidable. You will die, I will die, and even those with access to methods of immortality will die. Now that we have established this, there are only two questions left to ask._

"_When and how?_

"_And now we have come full circle, haven't we?"_

Anonymous Author, _Tempus Fatali_, pg. 7

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Chapter 1: Of Woods and Disagreements

The night was full of life, more so than it should have been. Owls called to one another and crickets chirped. Deer prowled and mice explored. The wind blew through the leaves of the trees, disturbing the peace of this hallowed ground. This wasn't how a graveyard was supposed to be like.

The constant bickering going on behind him wasn't helping much either.

"Oh, you had a better idea, did you? Why don't you care to share with us, hm?"

"I'm not saying it was a better plan, but come on, why'd we come here _alone_ in the middle of the night? Do we even know where we are exactly?"

"Of course we know where we are, _Ronald_. And you know exactly why we couldn't come here with anyone else. As for night, well, maybe it's just the small problem that there's a _war_ going on right now. In case you didn't know, that's really a hindrance to public travel."

"Hermione, I'm just saying, what if we brought Lupin-"

"We already discussed this Ron. Do you think I liked the idea of tricking Hagrid and Professor Lupin? What would you propose we do if we brought him here?"

"I don't know, maybe we could stun him."

"_Stun him?_ Yes, that will really keep us in the Order's favor, now won't it?"

"Sure, this is a _much_ better plan. Let's come here just before the full moon without telling anyone with only one witch able to apparate and one wizard completely unable to cast spells at all. How are we supposed to find the place anyway? We can't see it!"

"Harry can, so all we need to do is find where the house is and then-"

"Yes, then we can start looking for clues in a place we can't see or enter, is that it?"

"Harry can look inside. We'll look around the outside."

"Just what are we going to find anyway? I think this is a complete waste of-"

"Can't you two do anything but argue like an old married couple?"

Startled, the bushy haired girl and gangly boy both looked at the boy leading them through the woods. They were an unlikely bunch, having been brought together early in their Hogwarts years by a string of events none could have foreseen, starting with an unconscious troll and ending with the trials leading up to the Sorcerer's Stone.

The girl's name was Hermione Granger and was quickly developing a reputation for being the cleverest witch of her generation. She had brown, bushy hair that was slightly tamer than previous years, but still stood out.

The gangly boy was Ron Weasly, sporting the red hair designating his lineage from the huge family. Freckles dotted his face. He was easily a head taller than the other two and was only just receiving the flesh to fill out his body. His nature to procrastinate and take the easy route out tended to often conflict with Hermione's ideals, hence the constant arguing.

The leader was Harry Potter, perhaps the strangest of the three, if only for his past. His raven colored hair was unthinkably messy, as if it hadn't ever been touched by a comb. His eyes were emerald green and carried an intensity that shouldn't have been possible for a young man of his age. He had been brought up in a cupboard, only to be informed at age eleven that he was one of the most famous wizards in the world. Now, however, his task was much greater than stopping an unstoppable curse. A certain dark lord needed a good kick in the arse, and now that Dumbledore was gone, the task fell to the three of them. It didn't help that Voldemort split his soul seven different ways, trapping the pieces in horcruxes.

It also didn't help that they had no idea of where to begin searching for said horcruxes.

So here they were, in the woods just a few short miles northwest of the township of Godric's Hollow, looking for the remains of the famous Potter house where Harry received his famous scar. Perhaps they could find clues there. That is, of course, if they ever _did_ get there.

Hermione and Ron looked down at their feet almost simultaneously under Harry's fierce gaze. They muttered apologies to him, clearly embarassed.

Harry nodded. "Right. Let's keep looking then." And so, they journeyed on through the woods, tripping over the occasional tree root sticking out of the ground. Harry tripped the most, attempting to lead the group yet being the only one not capable of lighting his wand. Hemione noticed almost immediately.

"Harry, maybe we should lead. You can't see where you're going."

Harry shook his head. "If we're going to find the house before dawn, I need to be up front. How can I look for something with you two constantly pointing out things for me to watch out for? Besides, there's plenty of moonlight." He nearly tripped on a root, but caught himself at the last moment. He spread his arms out, spinning around to emphasize his point, showing how he was unharmed. Hermione sighed, but didn't press the issue.

Ron frowned as he said, "Just what are we expecting to find there though? I mean, Hagrid said the place burned down, didn't he?"

"I don't know Ron," Harry snapped, "a place to start, some kind of clue. We'll find _something_." He just wasn't sure what.

"Well," said Hermione, "Professor Dumbledore _did_ say that Voldemort- you really need to get over that Ron- Voldemort was going to make a horcrux when he killed Harry, didn't he? So whatever Voldemort was going to make the horcrux out of might still be there."

Harry nodded. "Or maybe there'll be clues as to where he plans to hide the damn things. You'd wanna get rid of one of those pretty quickly so people couldn't find it, right? So maybe… we'll…" Harry trailed off as he stepped under a tree limb into a small clearing. He stopped and stared to his right, blinking repeatedly.

"What is it?" Ron asked as he rushed forward, Hermione trailing slightly due to her shorter legs. As they stepped out of the trees, they stopped in their tracks as Harry had.

"Hermione," Harry inquired hesitantly, "Hagrid _did_ say the house burned down, didn't he?"

Hermione shook her head behind him. "I think that's the least of our worries Harry. We can see it too."

Harry's neck cracked as he whipped his head around to look at Hermione, then Ron. Seeing their shocked expressions, he again looked back at the obviously not ruined remains of a house. No, the house was standing, looking well kept as well on a small rise in the clearing.

"Didn't you say we're not supposed to be able to see it, Hermione?" asked Ron. No one said anything for a moment.

"But… how?"

Harry's question hung in the air as they fell into silent shock, the sounds of the woods still all around them. The impossible had happened. James and Lily Potter's house stood proud and tall in front of them, completely unhidden from the naked eye. It was unthinkable, but the proof seemed to be right in front of them.

The Fidelis Charm was broken.


End file.
